Ability to create/modify/view/cancel schedules on remote computers from ANY computer

No limitation of number of systems being scheduled

Low system resource (CPU, memory) usage

I must confess that the PerfectDisk review came at just the right moment since I was already searching for a program to defrag my computer's hard disk. Why? Wellย we all copy, move and delete data from or to our hard drive and all this "traffic" doesn't really do any good. If you don't know exactly why defragmentation is an essential proponent to computer health, try to picture this: You copy five files to your hard drive and than delete the second and the fourth. Next, you copy a large file to your hard drive. Where do you think it will be copied, right after the fifth file? If that's your final answer, then Regis isn't going to be too happy. First, data will be copied into the gap left by the first deleted file, then into the second. And only after the two gaps are filled, data will be written after the fifth file. Once you are able to imagine how many files have been scattered like this on your computer lately you will understand how useful a defragmentation software can be to your drive's health.

The PerfectDisk main screen and interface are very simple and user-friendly. The panels and menus are well organized and permit users to easily understand the software and its functions.

PerfectDisk has some very interesting and useful defragmentation features. First, PerfectDisk is not solely a defragmentation program; it can do a single pass consolidation of free space which ensures that new files will be created quickly and contiguously. Therefore you should have no more worries about your hard drive's health and performance. So, while the competition may require a few runs to ensure maximum efficiency, PerfectDisk, on the other hand, will defrag your partitions at high quality standards in a single pass.

Another important feature is the ability to schedule the defragmentation at user-specified times. This is a useful feature since defragmentation, for the most part, takes a lot more time than the user is willing to commit towards staring at a screen. Scheduling defragmentation during hours when we normally sleep is common practice, so it is reassuring to know this feature exists.

PerfectDisk provides support for all types of Windows partitions (NTFS, FAT16 and FAT32) and uses Microsoft APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to ensure minimal damage to defragmented files, even if they are accessed by the system.

Interestingly, defragmentation is not limited to only local media. PerfectDisk comes with complete support for defragmentation of shared drives on remote computers in your local area network.

The software provides the user with two defragmentation strategies: "SmartPlacement", which will defragment files, consolidate free space, and optimize the drive according to file usage, and "Defragment Only," which will defragment the drive while neglecting the features of hard drive space consolidation and defragmentation based on file usage patterns. Since the "SmartPlacement" method provides more interest, ensures drive health and represents a slower defrag method, it was the only strategy used during testing.

PerfectDisk was tested on two hard drives, with one being significantly older than the other. From the newer hard drive, with a capacity of 160GB three partitions participated in the defragmentation tests: a Windows partition (which, of course, contains the Windows files), a games partition (which contains both very small and very large files, often modified) and a videos partition (which contains large files, rarely modified).

On the Windows partition, which had plenty of unused space and fewer modified files, the defragmentation process lasted 10 minutes. When the task was completed the machine was rebooted to test boot speed: the defragmentation paid off, reducing the reboot time by 5 seconds.

The Games partition seemed to pose more of a problem since it was sized four times the size of the Windows partition while containing a lot more rarely modified files, most of which our human eye would discern as random scatter from one end of the partition to another if we were to look at the partition on the microscopic level. But of course, this posed no problem for PerfectDisk: the partition was defragmented and optimized in less than 40 minutes.

The Video partition didn't make a difference either. Considering the amount of oversized fragmented files on the partition, the 50 minute defragmentation process gave PerfectDisk a winner look.

In the end, defragmentation of the three partitions was done in less than 100 minutes. Unfortunately, these tests didn't seem to give PerfectDisk any real challenge. While good news for the consumer, it makes for a less impressive review. Therefore we found it necessary to test PerfectDisk in extreme conditions of fragmentation. Like every computer-related business, we too have a stock of old hard drives just waiting to be brought back into the limelight. We decided to give PerfectDisk a "perfect" test and fired up one of those puppies knowing fully well that these babies garner much fragmentation after excessive use.

The majority of defragmentation programs available, especially the Disk Defragmenter included with Windows, require that a certain percent of the hard disk be free space. In a lot of cases the value can be as high as 15%. PerfectDisk requires 5%. For our "perfect" test, we used an old 10GB hard disk. For the majority of defragmentation programs, this hard drive would be inoperable, because not only did we fail to leave 15% of the drive as free space, but we somehow managed to leave less than 5% free, to be exact, 25MB. It is worth noting that 25MB is approximately 0.3% of the total drive space. Regis has decided to give you a second chance at the $1,000,000 price, so here it goes: Did PefectDisk manage to defrag 10GB of video files with only 25MB of free space? Well I sure hope you didn't have a doubt in answering "Yes", because PerfectDisk successfully defragmented the hard disk in less than 90 minutes.

The only problem that PerfectDisk might pose to consumers is the price. Being one of the best defragmentation applications on the market has sure left its mark on the software's value.

PerfectDisk is truly the "perfect" software if you're looking for a clean, intuitive and highly efficient defragmentation software product. The program provides advanced features in a simple and comprehensible interface which makes PerfectDisk very recommendable, for both novices and experienced users alike.